SARGODHA: Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan has said he is creating awareness among people that they must fight for their rights and get rid of a system which favours the rulers and oppresses the poor.

Speaking at a large public meeting at a stadium here on Friday evening, he said that on one hand electricity supply to his residence had been suspended, and on the other, electricity worth Rs384 billion was being stolen across the country.

He said the rulers had increased tariff by 80 per cent and paid Rs480 billion as circular debt to their favourites, but failed to end loadshedding and provide any relief to the masses.

The PTI chief said people had the right to seek an explanation from Nawaz Sharif and Asif Zardari how they multiplied their wealth, lived like kings and invested the plundered money abroad.

He said people had shaken the corridors of power and time had come to end the politics of dynasty in the country.

Imran Khan said he would continue his Islamabad sit-in and hold meetings in big cities to tell Nawaz Sharif that people were aware of their rights and now their mandate could not be stolen through rigging.

“No nation can rise to glory unless women are empowered. We are victims of evil customs, but we will provide equal opportunity to women in ‘new Pakistan’,” he said.

He said the PTI had raised its voice against corrupt politicians, especially those who had transferred their wealth to other countries.

Mr Khan said the slogan “Go Nawaz go” would continue till the creation of a new Pakistan. People have realised that the PML-N and PPP are trying to save each other only to share power in rotation. He claimed that after coming to power with the help of people, the PTI would change the fate of the nation within one year by introducing merit, good governance and self-reliance. The judicial system would be improved to ensure justice to all.

He said the present rulers were incapable of steering the country out of crises because they were the product of dictatorial rule.

“Their main objective is to stick to power, save their plundered wealth and multiply it through kickbacks in big projects like Nandipur power and Metro bus projects.”

Referring to Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s statement that before making a new Pakistan, the PTI chief should make a “new Khyber Pakhtunkhwa” first, Mr Khan claimed that changes were already visible in the province in a short span of time. “Corruption has been curtailed and the province put on the path of progress and prosperity.”

Know more: PM asks Imran to first build a new KP before ‘Naya Pakistan’

He claimed that workers of the PPP and PML-N were joining the PTI because they had realised that they would get justice and rights in ‘new Pakistan’ where everybody would be answerable to the law.

The PTI will hold its next public meeting in Gujrat on Oct 24.

The PTI’s Vice Chairman, Shah Mehmood Qureshi, said the party would show its power at the public meeting slated for Nov 21 in Larkana.

PTI leaders Mian Mehmood Rasheed and Ijaz Chaudhry and Pakistan Awami League chief Sheikh Rashid also addressed the meeting.

A large number of PTI workers came to Sargodha from Mianwali, Khushab, Bhakkar, Mandi Bahauddin and Jhang to attend the rally.

Security arrangements were not satisfactory and the organisers failed to control the crowd. Walkthrough gates did not function properly, allowing a large number of people to enter the venue without adequate search.

Published in Dawn, October 18th, 2014